Life Skills, Hobbies, Country Pursuits and Sport

By the 8th century, the village had become the principal settlement type in southern England. Hilltop forts, hamlets, isolated farms and Great Halls were slowly abandoned. The great Roman towns and cities struggled to reclaim their dominant position in the geography of southern England. Instead, the village, surrounded by open fields and equipped with a blacksmith, an inn, a so-called 'Big House' and a church with its ever-expanding vicarage, came to define the pattern of life in much of lowland Britain. Five walks will explore a handful of Wiltshire's villages. Each walk will be between three and four miles.